The Panthers and their all-time winningest goalie Roberto Luongo will join forces again as he was acquired from Vancouver Tuesday for the longtime projected "goalie of the future" Jacob Markstrom and forward Shawn Matthias. Luongo's 108 wins and 26 shutouts still are still Panthers' all-time marks from his stint with them from 2000-06. He was traded to the Canucks on June 23, 2006 with Lukas Krajicek and a sixth-round choice (Sergei Shirokov) for Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan Allen and Alex Auld.

As the team landed in Dallas early Sunday morning, 18 Panthers separated from the pack, dispersing in different directions while the remaining 31 would prepare for Monday's game against the Dallas Stars. The Panthers lopped off 12 young prospects and shipped them off to San Antonio where they will join the Panthers' AHL affiliate in time for the start of training camp on Monday morning. That list included: forward John McFarland, Steve Hodges, Connor Brickley, Logan Shaw and Brett Olson; defensemen Jonathan Racine and Josh McFadden, as well as goalies Michael Houser and Sam Brittain.

Something you can't do very well. I can't swim. I just never learned. Now it's gotten to a point where, in the water, I kind of panic a bit. So you can never go boating? Sometimes. I just wear a life jacket. Ever nervous meeting someone? I think it was when I met Wayne Gretzky. So the one time I met him, I didn't even know he was there. He just popped up in front of me. So I was surprised. And nervous at the same time. It was right before a game at the World Championships. We chatted for a while.

For the second straight preseason game the Panthers fell in a shootout, this time 2-1 to the Predators Saturday afternoon in the first game of a split-squad doubleheader. Craig Smith and Derek Roy scored in the shootout against Panthers minor leaguer Sam Brittain while Carter Hutton stymied Vincent Trocheck and Brad Boyes. The Predators got on the board at 4:11 of the first period as Panthers winger Brad Boyes skated off on a delayed penalty, Nashville's Garrett Noonan worked a sweet two-on-one break with Craig Smith, who flicked it past Al Montoya, in net for his Panthers' preseason debut.

By Steve Gorten Sun Sentinel Sunrise Tomas Vokoun angrily stuffed his gear into his equipment bag, zipped it up, lugged it to the other end of the dressing room and flung it into the corner. It was another frustrating night for the goalie that can't save these Panthers no matter how hard he tries. Vokoun has kept his emotion in check throughout this current tailspin, but even he knew what's now clearly apparent — this team isn't headed for the playoffs.

On one end of the ice at the Florida Panthers practice facility on Thursday was a thin goalie wearing Dallas Stars green pads and helmet. On the other, was a familiar-looking, lanky goalie wearing a new-old helmet and his customary No. 1 jersey he last donned eight years ago. In the span of 23 hours and 62 games into the NHL season, the Panthers' goalie situation was blown up as they went from Tim Thomas and Scott Clemmensen to the franchise winningest...

Former Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo, who seemed to be spinning his wheels in Vancouver since they relegated him to backup last year, is in the market for new wheels after robbers apparently stripped his Mercedes-Benz GL-Class SUV earlier this week. Luongo, who's already working out at the Panthers training facility in Coral Springs near his offseason home, is once again the starter in Vancouver after the Canucks surprisingly traded goalie Cory Schneider to the Devils in June.

By the time Roberto Luongo finally got his long-desired wish to return to South Florida in March, the Panthers were loaded with minor league players and out of the playoff race. Flash forward five months and Luongo is starting from scratch with a clear mind and a revamped team that has added three veterans with six Stanley Cup rings as well as a solid backup in Al Montoya to go with several young, skilled forwards. "It's different obviously, but even though when I got here last year the team was pretty much out of the playoffs that wasn't really important to me," said Luongo, who was 6-7-1 for the Panthers last season with a 2.46 goals-against-average.

It may have felt like throwback jersey night at the BB&T Center, but it was actually a smashing homecoming for goalie Roberto Luongo as he was serenaded by Panthers fans wearing his No. 1 jersey with cheers that sounded like jeers all night long: Louuuuuuuuuuuu! All Luongo did in his first start for the Panthers since April 18, 2006, was pitch a shutout in leading his new-old team to a 2-0 victory over the dysfunctional, undermanned Buffalo Sabres in front of 14,402 Friday night.

Although the Panthers are hopelessly buried in the Eastern Conference with just 20 games remaining, the return of goalie Robert Luongo in net after eight years in Vancouver has created national interest for Friday night's game against the similary downtrodden Sabres that would normally be a battle for a better draft pick. "It leaves a bitter taste in your mouth when you don't have the season you want but you really got to push it right to the end," said Panthers winger Scottie Upshall after morning skate at the BB&T Center.

Several young players are running out of time to show the Panthers' braintrust that they deserve one of the few roster spots available to start the season, but at least they know they will have jobs in the minors. Not so for veteran defenseman Shane O'Brien, who was invited to training camp on a personal tryout arrangement. At 31, the former eighth-round pick who has played for six organizations in eight NHL seasons knows if he doesn't earn one of the seven spots in the Panthers' defensive corps, he just goes home to an uncertain future.

When/where: 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., Bridgestone Arena, Nashville TV: none. Radio: none Scouting report: Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad, the top overall draft pick in June, will make his NHL preseason debut in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader against the Predators and their new coach Peter Laviolette, the former Flyers coach who the Panthers expressed an early interest in. Gallant said 40 of the 49 players in camp will play in the rare...

When the Panthers signed goalie Al Montoya on July 1, General Manager Dale Tallon made it crystal clear that he would be Roberto Luongo's backup this season. That meant that veteran goalie Dan Ellis, 34, who's expecting to begin his 11th NHL season, would start the year in the AHL with the San Antonio Rampage and be an expensive insurance policy in case Luongo or Montoya suffered an injury. That's not the way Ellis sees it. "I don't feel like I'm going to leave," Ellis said after the morning skate Wednesday.

When the Panthers signed goalie Al Montoya on July 1st, General Manager Dale Tallon made it crystal clear that he would be Roberto Luongo's backup this season. That meant that veteran goalie Dan Ellis, 34, who is preparing to begin his 11th NHL season, would start the season in the AHL with the San Antonio Rampage and be an expensive insurance policy in case Luongo or Montoya incurred an injury. That's not the way Ellis took it. "I don't feel like I'm going to leave," Ellis said.

Preseason: Stars at Panthers When/where: 7:30 p.m., BB&T Center, Sunrise TV: none; Radio: WQAM-560 Scouting report: The Panthers, ranked 29th of 30 teams last season, will begin their six-game exhibition season against the Dallas Stars, who earned the second wild card in the Western Conference last with 91 points. They're led by forwards Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn, who scored 84 and 79 points respectively. The Panthers will start former Stars goalie Dan Ellis in net with Michael Houser in relief.

By the time Roberto Luongo finally got his long-desired wish to return to South Florida in March, the Panthers were loaded with minor league players and out of the playoff race. Flash forward five months and Luongo is starting from scratch with a clear mind and a revamped team that has added three veterans with six Stanley Cup rings as well as a solid backup in Al Montoya to go with several young, skilled forwards. "It's different obviously, but even though when I got here last year the team was pretty much out of the playoffs that wasn't really important to me," said Luongo, who was 6-7-1 for the Panthers last season with a 2.46 goals-against-average.

In a bizarre, slightly uncomfortable scene at Saveology.com Iceplex Tuesday morning, current Panthers starter Jose Theodore was beginning an informal practice with several teammates just moments after estranged Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo had finished his own skate. Luongo has made it clear that since Canucks General Manager Mike Gillis promoted goalie Cory Schneider to starter after giving him a three-year, $12 million contract extension, that he wants to be traded to the Panthers, the franchise he established his All-Star credentials with from 2001-06 and back to an area he maintains an offseason residence with his wife and two young children.

CORAL SPRINGS - Jason Taylor came back to the Dolphins. Twice. Still no Super Bowl. Jeff Conine returned to the Marlins -- and helped them win a second World Series with him in the lineup. Alonzo Mourning reconciled with the Heat, and their first NBA championship soon followed. Which brings us to the Panthers and these persistent rumors about a reunion with Roberto Luongo, their star goalie for five mostly forgettable seasons (2000-06). Goaltending wasn't the issue for the Panthers last season as they ended that 12-year playoff drought that started during Luongo's tenure.

The Panthers are hoping that Willie Mitchell's personnel evaluation skills are just as sharp as that of team architect, General Manager Dale Tallon. When the veteran defenseman was a free agent coming off a concussion shortened 2010 season in Vancouver, he put on his GM hat and decided that the Los Angeles Kings would be the perfect fit for a stay-at-home, responsible defenseman who was desperately in search of his first Stanley Cup ring. Well, two Stanley Cup titles and four years later, Mitchell had a similar decision to make when the Kings told him the cupboard was bare after shelling out $34.3 million to keep high-scoring forward Marian Gaborik.